03.11.2010.

The 21st century saw Tony Joe White resume his recording and performing career, and experience a resurgence of critical interest in his older music as well. Since 2002, "the Swamp Fox" has recorded sporadically for his own Swamp imprint, and also had his back catalog remastered and reissued. Earlier in 2010, Rhino Handmade made available That On the Road Look, a previously unreleased live date. The Shine is a (mostly) low-key, basic affair. White wrote or co-wrote everything here with his wife, Leann. The band is a quintet: White plays guitars and harmonica with drummer Jack Bruno, cellist John Catchings, bassist George Hawkins, and Tyson Rogers on piano, organ, and Wurlitzer. The sound is warm and raw; the album feels like it was cut mostly live from the floor (with guitar and vocal overdubs added) and it's full of natural atmospherics. White's acoustic nylon-string guitar is prevalent, sometimes more so than his quavering, downright spooky baritone. His electric six-string work paints the backdrop. The only real exceptions are the downright rocker "Strange Night," where White displays everything that Mark Knopfler copped from his style inside of five minutes. The levels feel off, overloaded; the vocals come from the backdrop as the guitars and drums smoulder, smoke, and bubble.... - cduniverse.com

TRACKS: 01. Season Man 02. Ain't Doing Nobody No Good 03. Paintings on the Mountain 04. Tell Me Why 05. All 06. Long Way from the River 07. Strange Night 08. Something to Soften the Blow 09. Roll Train Roll 10. A Place to Watch the Sun Go Down

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